Knitting, Crocheting and comments about life

Archive for the tag “Green Mountain Spinnery”

Vogue continues to impress and show their dedication to crochet! Today on their Twitter feed they posted 23 tips and tricks from today’s crochet stars!

All of them were excellent but my favorites were…
1) Drew Emborsky “The Crochet Dude”: – use yarn you love!
I think this is super important! You are taking the time to make something with your time, skill, effort and love. Do it with a material you love. My fave yarns are anything from Green Mountain Spinnery, Kraemer Yarns, Berrocco Yarns, Madeline Tosh hand dyed yarn, and Claudia’s hand painted yarns.
2)Jennifer Hansen:
Warns you to loosen up your stitches remember we are creating fabric, it’s all about the drape!
3) Vicki Howell:
Offers some advice on crochet gauge! Crochet gauge is a whole different beast then knitted gauge and therefore you must swatch to get optimal outcomes. I once made a garment and had to change my hook size to three sizes smaller because I tend to be a loose crocheter!
4) Candi Jensen –
Her advice is to use the whole part of your crochet hook if you work on shaft only you will get a tight garment !
( I might add that Candi Jensen has really done so much for crochet! Her work inspired me in so many different ways! Her designs are super modern and uses many different techniques!! I heart Candi Jensen!)
5) Kathy Merrick:
Suggests that because crochet fabric is thicker and denser than knitted material use one yarn weight lighter when crocheting !

Thanks so much to Vogue and their dedication to Crochet! What are some of your tips and tricks blog friends! Comment and be entered to win a set of 5 crochet patterns from my Etsy shop!Vogue Crochet tips from the stars!

It’s that time of year again, sheep and wool festivals galore! Maryland sheep and wool and New Hampshire Sheep and wool have come and gone already. This weekend on Long Island, we will be hosting the Long Island Sheep and Wool festival in Riverhead, NY at the Hallockville Museum.

So what is a crocheter suppose to do? Shop till you drop of course!

The crocheter will be exposed to so many great new ideas, yarns and projects it is pure sensory overload.

So here are my tips:
1) Try to have a project in mind that you are shopping for.
– I sometimes even bring patterns to match the yarn

2) Bring a good camera to take pictures of inspiring items

3) Try to bring cash as many vendors are unable to process credit cards

4) Wear clothing appropriate to the weather

5) Don really comfy shoes to make all that walking more pleasurable!

6) Bring a yarn estimator with you so that when you find a yarn you fall in love with you can buy how much you think for a project.
– A crochet project takes approximately 30 percent more yarn on projects when compared to knitting!
– Yarn market has a great app for the IPhone!
7) Check the Websites and appropriate social media sites for your favorite vendors as they may be running show specials!
– Green Mountain Spinnery had various trivia contests at Maryland Sheep and wool! Great idea guys!

8) Always good to have a portable project with you that you can conveniently hook while you wait!

9) Bring some great snacks as shopping always makes me hungry and who really wants to stop for food when you can be hunting out the greatest yarn!

10) Water and hand sanitizer need I say more!

Enjoy and I would love to hear about your experiences! Comment and be entered for this weeks blog giveaway!

Vogue continues to impress and show their dedication to crochet! Today on their Twitter feed they posted 23 tips and tricks from today’s crochet stars!

All of them were excellent but my favorites were…
1) Drew Emborsky “The Crochet Dude”: – use yarn you love!
I think this is super important! You are taking the time to make something with your time, skill, effort and love. Do it with a material you love. My fave yarns are anything from Green Mountain Spinnery, Kraemer Yarns, Berrocco Yarns, Madeline Tosh hand dyed yarn, and Claudia’s hand painted yarns.
2)Jennifer Hansen:
Warns you to loosen up your stitches remember we are creating fabric, it’s all about the drape!
3) Vicki Howell:
Offers some advice on crochet gauge! Crochet gauge is a whole different beast then knitted gauge and therefore you must swatch to get optimal outcomes. I once made a garment and had to change my hook size to three sizes smaller because I tend to be a loose crocheter!
4) Candi Jensen –
Her advice is to use the whole part of your crochet hook if you work on shaft only you will get a tight garment !
( I might add that Candi Jensen has really done so much for crochet! Her work inspired me in so many different ways! Her designs are super modern and uses many different techniques!! I heart Candi Jensen!)
5) Kathy Merrick:
Suggests that because crochet fabric is thicker and denser than knitted material use one yarn weight lighter when crocheting !

Thanks so much to Vogue and their dedication to Crochet! What are some of your tips and tricks blog friends! Comment and be entered to win a set of 5 crochet patterns from my Etsy shop!Vogue Crochet tips from the stars!

Tonight as I crocheted, I was serenaded by the wonderful talent on the Voice. My favorite although he didn’t win was Chris Mann! Wow what a voice! It also just happens to be that his mom Judith Mann is a member of the TNNA.

I don’t know about you but I actually frequently stitch to music! After taking a class with the very talented designer Mari Lynn Patrick, I actually now come up with playlists for the things I’m stitching. She stated in class and in an interview with Interweave Press that she listens to music that helps inspire her designs. So why not, I said! Last night while watching The Voice I was designing a capelet perfect for a summer day that has a little country flair. The yarn is one of my favorites Green Mountain Spinnery’s Sylvan Spirit. My normal playlist would have been a little modern country like Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, Miley Cyrus or even a little Dolly Parton (she is a secret favorite of mine!) But the playful selections of last night were perfect and Lady Antebellum was one of the featured artists so it was just perfect!

What’s the soundtrack of your stitching? Tell us your playlist and you will be entered to win a free crochet pattern from my Etsy shop!!!

This week I’m featuring all crochet blogs to promote my new blog and project dedicated to all things crochet Chain Two. Www.chaintwo.wordpress.com Come take a look!

Sorry for the delay but without any further adieu…. Spring Vogue Knitting 2012 is jam packed with info as usual…
My favorite part is always the announcements and what’s new… The greatest excitement is that they will be doing a special Crochet issue on May 8th 2012!!! I am already waiting with baited breath!!! I wonder if Barnes and Noble will open at midnight … Lol! A knitter can dream cant I? Hmmm maybe Rumplestiltskin yarns on Sayville will! Angela is more passionate about crochet then I am if that’s even possible.

Next a lay out of upcycled and repurposed yarn I want to try berrocco remix and Penelope’s fine yarns … Www.penelopefineyarns.etsy. Com
Be sweet tshirt looked interesting as well. Nothing like your favorite t against your skin!

Today was a crazy day! The first day back after vacation is always a bit crazy. So when I arrived home, my husband took one look at me and said how about we go out for dinner (we are trying to not eat out) but we packed up the family and went to Bobby’s Burger Palace at the mall! Our trip to the mall always includes a trip to Barnes and Nobles to play with the trains! It am absolute must for our two year old daughter, Caitlyn! After a crazy day I was starting to unwind. My husband told me to go take a walk through the knitting magazines… I definitely don’t want to know what I looked like by then but off I went! On my way downstairs,I said God it would be a blessing if the spring knitting mags were out and….
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCORE!!!!!!!!! Both Interweave Knits AND Vogue were out!!!!!

Elated, I started flipping through them and both were too good to pass up!!!! I brought them both home with me!!!!

In Interweave, one of my favorite fibers was reviewed. It is Tencel! Which is actually made from wood pulp! It is super soft and super Eco friendly! The best part of the article is that Green Mountain Spinnery’s Sylvan Spirit was chosen to be reviewed! I have knit and designed with it! It is a great fiber and the colors they have available are awesome as well. Check out my Wolcott Tree Hugger Pattern on my Etsy site for a great pattern using this yarn http://www.eastendhomearts.etsy.com . You can buy this yarn at http://www.spinnery.com !

The other great article they had was on the longevity of a great designer Mari Lynn Patrick! Her designs have spanned decades and her designs are still timeless. I took an intense class with her at Vogue Knitting Live in NYC. And the article is true to her warm personality, passion for design and great professionalism!

Tomorrow, the Spring Issue of Vogue Knitting!!!

So go out and get your spring knitting fix! Nothing better to help pluck you out of the winter doldrums!

So what relaxes you at the end of a stressful seemingly productively unproductive day… Knitting of course I know but what else… Reading about knitting you got it!

I just returned home and I wanted to sleep bc I was exhausted yet I was wound because of an earlier conversation about politics which I normally enjoy but bc I was tired and exhausted I did not have the usual mental fortitude to make my case. So after a short jaunt on google about topics discussed I found myself cleaning a task I don’t normally like to do but bc I was too wound to go to I was awaiting my daughters laundry to be ready to be switched I was cleaning fervently.

I just got a new desk so I was so excited when I realized where I wanted my knitting books I started to search for them and out of the woodworks came “The Knitters Life List” by Gwen Steege which by the way also has a great book about knitted stockings.

I fervently flipped through the book as I was getting reacquainted with an old friend. I was in search of more things to mark off as well because of my recent trip to Vogue Knitting Live in January! So I looked through the chapters and the life lists and was able to add things I wanted to learn as well as check off some personalities I had met! I had met Vicki Howell and Debbie Stoller check!!!! They are both lovely btw and in the pics through our the book I happened to recognize that there was a picture from the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival and even better cheesy I know but I recognized the Green Mountain Spinnery booth! The funniest part is that I looked more closely to see if I knew anyone in the pic as I love their yarn and have talked shop with them at length I realized that both Maureen and Margaret were in the picture in the book as well! It’s a super small wooly world out there!!!

Thanks everyone for reading!!!! That blog was amazingly calming to write… Maybe next time I will finish my review! Lol!

Yarn, yarn and more yarn… My blogging about Vogue Knitting Live continues… Once again VK live out did themselves with finding amazing vendors. My top three yarn vendors this year were…
1) Green Mountain Spinnery
2)Lana Knits- Hemp for Knitting
3) Bijou Basin
And here is why….
1) Green Mountain Spinnery:
I know that I had put them on my top 5 list of vendors and they lived up to all my hype. The wonderful staff had curated an amazing yarn selection for us to enjoy. They debuted there new bulky weight yarn CAPRICORN. It comes in amazing earth tones such as gray(natural gray), natural beige( natural white), a camel brown(natural dark) and a red hand painted as well.

I picked up some wonderfully wooly in poppy for a design in process, some sylvan spirit to make mittens to match one of my newest designs the Wolcott Tree Hugger Hat.(Check it out in my etsy shop http://www.eastendhomearts.etsy.com), and some amazingly hand dyed Simply Fine in a dark palette that is serving as inspiration for a shawl that reminds me of the night sky or in this case it would be the knit sky.

Check out what they have at http://www.spinnery.com. Please remember they are a U.S. based business ! Always great to support our local economy !!! They also have a great shop conveniently located off I-89 in Putney,VT so on your way to ski this winter stop by for your yarn fix.

2) Hemp for Knitters by Lana Knits http://www.lanaknits.com-
As a knitter who is obsessed with bags it is often hard to find a yarn that is sturdy enough to hold up to what you designed it for . I have been on the search for that perfect yarn for a while and I found that at Lana knits very close to the runway stage on the second market place floor. She had an amazing color selection in different weights other than fingering which is so hard to find yet again in hemp! Kudos ! Check them out as well and look for great new designs from me for my summer line due out in the beginning of May!

Here I am at Vogue Knitting Live so fun! I took my first lecture with Nancy Soriano (@nancysoriano). It was all about turning your passion into a business! Very good! ( a blog for another time).

I went upstairs in the short time I had to say hi to my friends at Green Mountain Spinnery! Their new yarn Capricorn is better then I had imagines and I thought it was going to be magnificent! Yeah bulky weight yarn from the spinnery!

I turned the corner to the Knitty City booth which is always awesome and saw designer Tanis Gray who wrote Knit local and also loves Green Mountain Spinnery as much as I do! I had a great little chat..
Q: where are you living?
A: Washington dc, I am teaching a lot at fiber space!

Q: what are you up to now?
A: keeping up with my 8 month old son and just came out with a new book!

Q: are you classically trained?
A: my mother taught me when I was about 8 years old and I picked up a lot of information when I worked at vogue knitting in the city !